@UNCBearsVB Hosts Big Sky Tournament, Wildcats Up First

Thursday, November 22

Greeley, Colo.

7 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Weber State

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Woody Myers

11/21/2018 1:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Game Notes

Bank of Colorado Arena will be the site of the 2018 Big Sky Tournament and Northern Colorado enters as the No. 6 seed

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Northern Colorado volleyball hosts the Big Sky Tournament from Nov.22 to Nov.24 at Bank of Colorado Arena. UNC [14-12, 10-7] is the sixth seed and opens its tournament play against No. 3 Weber State on Thursday night at 7 pm.

The Bears are hosting the tournament for the second time in program history and first since 2012. UNC qualified for the tournament for the 13th consecutive season. In 2017, UNC dropped its opening round match to host Sacramento State 3-1. Northern Colorado last won the Big Sky Tournament in 2014, defeating Idaho State 3-0.

Northern Colorado defeated Portland State 3-1 on senior night to improve to 10-7 in the conference. Brittany Lawrence recorded a .726 attack percentage and had 17 kills against Portland State on senior night. Her percentage is the third highest in Division I program history for a player with at least 12 kills. Lawrence is currently fourth in the Big Sky with a .340 attack percentage and is adding 1.94 kills per set from the middle.

UNC's scheduled road match against Sacramento State on Saturday was canceled due to air quality issues related to the wildfires in California.

UNC ranks second in the Big Sky in with 13.37 kills per set and is first with 37.80 attacks per set.

Redshirt-sopohomore middle blocker Lauren Hinrichs was named Top Newcomer in the Big Sky on Tuesday after transferring here from Wichita State. Kortney Lockey and Daisy Schultz earned spots on the All-Big Sky second team. Hinrichs is third on the team with 2.38 kills per set and is 10th in the conference with a .285 attack percentage. Lockey is sixth in the conference and leads the team with 3.29 kills per set and is second on the team with 3.00 digs per set. Schultz leads the Big Sky with 11.29 assists per set and has recorded 1095 assists in her sophomore season.

Taylor Els tallied 20 digs against Portland State and extended her streak of double-digit digs to 50 matches. Els leads the Big Sky conference with 5.56 digs per set. Els has also recorded 20+ digs in six straight matches.

Scouting the Wildcats
Weber State heads into the tournament as the No. 3 seed after finishing with a 13-5 record in conference and 18-9 overall. The Wildcats close out their season with a sweep of both Montana and Montana State. Two of Weber State's outside hitters were selected to the All-Big Sky First team, including senior Andrea Hale and junior Megan Gneiting. Hale leads the Wildcats with 3.69 kills per set, while hitting .207. She has also added 34 service aces to lead the team. Gneiting is second on the team with 2.98 kills per set and is hitting .228 on the season. At the net, Gneiting is second on the team with 103 total blocks for a 1.01 blocks per set average.

Northern Colorado dropped a five-set match against the Wildcats in Greeley earlier this month. Lauren Hinrichs set a career-mark with 15 kills and Kortney Lockey had 13 kills and 13 digs.

Following the Bears
Northern Colorado will take on Weber State on Thursday, November 22^nd at 7 pm(MT). All Big Sky Tournament first round matches will be streamed live on PlutoTV or WatchBigSky.com. The semifinals and finals match will be broadcast live on Eleven Sports.

Tickets for the whole tournament or each session can be purchased online by clicking here.

Live Stats for UNC's and all matches will be available through the Big Sky and UNCBears.com. Follow the Bears match live on Twitter with @UNCBears.com.

Tournament Schedule
(ALL TIMES MOUNTAIN)

QUARTERFINALS – Thursday, November 22
SESSION ONE
Match 1: 10:00am - #5 Idaho State vs #4 Sacramento State
Match 2: 12:30pm - #1 Northern Arizona vs #8 Montana State

SESSION TWO
Match 3: 4:30pm - #2 Idaho vs #7 Montana
Match 4: 7:00pm - #3 Weber State vs #6 Northern Colorado

SEMIFINALS – Friday, November 23
SESSION THREE
Match 5: 4:35pm - Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
Match 6: 7:05pm – Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4

CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, November 24
SESSION FOUR
Match 7: 7:35pm – Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6